Beatitudes - Part 1 - Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit

Temple Baptist Church - 8-14-2016 

Matthew 5:1-3

Introduction: 

A.  Like most of the Bible, this portion of Scripture was not written to the multitudes (the lost) but to His disciples, the saved. 

1.  The unsaved cannot grasp spiritual truth that is in the Word of God because it is spiritually discerned. 

2.  The unsaved, through the preaching of the gospel and the illumination of the Holy Ghost can be saved but understanding the Bible requires the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.

B.  I want to take a short look at what we call the Beatitudes: a condition or statement of blessedness. Blessedness is often in spite of circumstances!  Blessedness is realization, not circumstances.

1.  I have seen or heard where some have substituted the word happy for the word blessed.  This is a cardinal mistake!  Happiness is contingent upon happenings. 

2.  You can be blessed and not be happy.  We are truly blessed if we are happy or not.  We can be down in the dumps so to speak and yet be blessed with food, shelter, clothing, etc. at the same time.

3.  You can be blessed and not be rich.  If money is your pursuit of happiness, you will find that it will not bring fulfillment in your life.  Is money important?  Not as important as this world would have you believer.

4.  You can be blessed and not be well.  I hate to see people sick and do not like to be sick personally but spiritual blessedness has nothing to do with physical wellness.

5.  These Beatitudes were meant to bring quietness to a disquieted soul!  The apostles were tired:

a)  Because of the multitudes who followed them!

b)  Because of the Pharisees, Sadducees, lawyers, and scribes who constantly persecuted them!

c)  Because of the poor conditions in which they lived: their pillow was a stone and they had to glean in the fields to eat!

6.  Psalms 46:1-4, 10  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  (2)  Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;  (3) Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. (4)  There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High … (10)  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

C.  What is “poor in spirit?”  Poor in spirit does not mean a lack of spirit or a worthless spirit. 

Luke 14:10-11  But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.  (11)  For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himselfshall be exalted.

1.  “Poor in spirit” has to do with humility before God.  It means humility instead of haughtiness.  1 Peter 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

2.  “Poor in spirit” has to do with submission to God.  Philippians 2:10  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

3.  “Poor in spirit” has to do with contentment with God.  Philippians 4:11  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

4.  “Poor in spirit” has to do with thanksgiving toward God.  1 Thessalonians 5:18  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

D.  The poor in spirit:

1.  The poor in spirit Understand the grace of God.  “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men …  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ!”  So many professing Christians never grasp the necessity or the fullness of the grace of God.  To the child of God, it is all of grace!  I thank the Lord every day that He loves me in spite of me. Ephesians 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

2.  The poor in spirit Understand just how precious Christ is.  They are blessed!  “Unto you therefore which believe he is precious!”  Christ not only gives us life; He is our life!  He has not only given to us eternal life, He has given to us life more abundant. Colossians 3:4  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

3.  The poor in spirit Understand the value of the Bible and the importance of spiritual nourishment. What a wonderful gift the Lord gave us with “The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.”  Thank God for those who have faithfully published it!  1 Peter 2:2  As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

4.  The poor in spirit Understand the price paid at Calvary for their redemption.  “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends!”  Oh what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon the child of God!  1 Peter 1:18-19  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;  (19)  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

5.  The poor in spirit Understand their indebtedness to the lost.  “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee!”   The saved may not be able to feed the world but they have the power to free the world!  Romans 1:14  I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.

6.  The poor in spirit Understand that true riches are eternal, not temporal.  “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you!”  "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." 2 Corinthians 4:17-18  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;  (18)  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen aretemporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

7.  The poor in spirit Understand that this world is not their home. “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims!”  This world is not my home, I’m just a passing thorugh.   Hebrews 11:8-10  By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.  (9)  By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:  (10)  For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.